One of two Blue-headed Vireos we banded this morning.
Rain during the night stopped prior to opening but it threatened all morning. And, although we never got rain we did get intermittent skeins of light drizzle/mist. So net rounds were frequent and we didn’t go the full 6 hours (suggested by “constant effort” netting protocols). The river flats were busy with birds, especially sparrows and Purple Finches. We have a couple of nets down there but sometimes I wish we had the consistent manpower that would allow us to explore the use of the flats by migrants – in other words, run more nets down there.
Orange-crowned Warbler.
The weather grounded many migrants. We retrapped 33 birds, most banded within the past several days. They’re waiting for better conditions and trying to pack on fat reserves in preparation.
The extensive orange on the crown indicates this Orange-crowned Warbler is a male.
We’re starting to get larger concentrations of American Goldfinches and I’m surprised by the number of older, AHY birds making up the catch. In past years when we’ve banded large numbers of goldfinches the ration of HY:AHY was much higher.
The most exciting bird today was a Peregrine Falcon that made a stoop at a Cedar Waxwing (unsuccessfully) right over the top of the banding lab.
Banded 73:
1 Black-capped Chickadee
1 Golden-crowned Kinglet
1 Hermit Thrush
3 American Robins
19 Cedar Waxwings
2 Blue-headed Vireos
4 Myrtle Warblers
3 Northern Cardinals
3 Fox Sparrows
1 Song Sparrow
2 Swamp Sparrows
6 White-throated Sparrows
2 Eastern White-crowned Sparrows
2 Dark-eyed Juncos
4 Purple Finches
19 American Goldfinches
ET’s: 42 spp.
Rick